Saigon
Brian Wright, better known by his stagename Saigon, is a American rapper. His father is of Salvadorean and Jamaican descent, and his mother is of Samoan descent. He is the founder of & former Trippple O.G of the Kelly Park Compton Crips. He is also best known as one of the founding members of the legendary rap group N.W.A. He is often called as "The Father of Gangsta Rap", "Originator of Hardcore hip hop", & is respected as one of the first major MCS to have brought hip hop to mainstream status during the golden age of hip hop. Biography 'Early Life' Saigon was born Anthony Terry in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Compton, California in a primarily Crip gang neighborhood known as Kelly Park. He attended Compton High School from 1973 until dropping out around in Grade 10 during the year 1975 and it was after this that he founded the local Crip set Kelly Park Compton Crips, which included his younger brother Eazy E, in which he finally embraced the street life along with other things that included burglarly, extortion, carjacking, selling drugs in he earned over 28,000$. For a number of time, T-Bone was in and out of jail which a count of 20 times for a number of things mentioned above. He decided to quit the gangsta lifestyle when he started his rap career. 'Rapping career' Early Years During his days as a street gangster & extremely successful drug dealer, Saigon got into rap music in 1982 while it was still at his infancy when one of his drug clients who was short of cash gave him a number of hip hop CDs from old school rappers like Kurtis Blow, the Sugarhill Gang, & others. That moment got him into becoming a rapper and eventually Saigon perfected his rapping skills as well as unorthodox, high-pitched rapping style that inspired many and started his own group 415 and they rapped in the L.A underground scene for over two years. He started his own label Godfather Entertainment and began recording dozens of mixtapes in parents with brother Eazy E who at the time was starting to get into the rap game. Saigon was eventually the first rap artist to be signed to the recently formed Priority Records in which he released his legendary as well as inspirational debut album in 1984 called "Life of a Hoodlum", that included many hit singles such as legendary song "Insane in the Brain" ft. 415, "Ain't Goin' Out Like That", "Paid in Full" ft. Eazy E, "Hand on the Pump" & "When the Shit Goes Down.." which was also featured on the soundtrack of the classic gangster film To Live And Die in L.A and this album is has many P-Funk infused songs. The album also featured production from then-up and coming producer Dr.Dre who featured the electro-hop sound and also featured many P-Funk infused sounds. "Paid in Full" is considered as one of the most influential hip hop albums in history. Ruthless Years In 1986, Saigon co-founded Ruthless Records with brother Eazy E and Jerry Heller. During the year 1987, Saigon released his second solo album called "" which featured his 415 alumni Sen Dog, MR. Doctor, & Eric B as well as future N.W.A members, and Kurtis Blow. As that year went on, the newly-formed label signed act like Dr.Dre, and Ice Cube along wiht others like MC Ren, The Fila Fresh Crew, and DJ Yella. The labels popularity grew on the Westcoast scene due to Saigon's rise to fame from his 1985 and Saigon founded the rap group N.W.A along with Eazy E, and the group released their EP, "N.W.A and the Posse" which featured hits like "Panic Zone", "Dopeman", "8-Ball", and "Boyz-n-the-Hood. After the success of the debut EP, Saigon along with MC Ren and Ice Cube went on to write the lyrics and record the songs for their legendary album, "Straight Outta Compton". After the album finally released, the N.W.A shook the golden age of hip hop and solified their status as one of the most hardcore gangsta rap groups in history. In 1989, Saigon felt that he wanted to go back to his solo days so he peacefully left the group without any heat unlike Ice Cube. Def Jam (second run) 1990-1991 After leaving the N.W.A, Saigon returned to the label that helped start of his career, Def Jam Recordings. During his second run on the label, Saigon became fast friends with the label's main group Public Enemy, especially the leader Chuck D and it was through him that Ice Cube was introduced to the group and eventually, they all worked on Cube's debut album together. After being featured on a number of songs from Def Jam artists, It was time for him to start recording songs for his long-awaited second album. After over a year, Saigon finally released his second solo album,"O.G: Original Gangsta", but unlike his debut album, it did not reach diamond but went triple platinum. This album also featured many classic smash hits like the Grammy-Award winning song,"The Ghetto" ft. Bootsy Collins, "La Raza", and "I Must Stand". Deathrow Records Once again, Saigon left Def Jam for a second time and joined Deathrow Records in 1991 despite his brother Eazy E's beef with Dr.Dre with Saigon saying,"This lil rivalry ain't got nothin' to do with me; I'm all 'bout business and this lil beef between those two is none of my business". Later on that year, He was re-united with his former N.W.A groupmates Dr.Dre and The DOC. In 1992, Saigon and The DOC were instrumental in training and coaching future rap superstar Snoop Dogg in rapping; He taught Snoop how to structure his rhymes and helped the young rapper on developed his now-famous "laid-back" style of rapping. Behind the scenes, Saigon was responsible for writing most of the lyrics for Dr.Dre's verse in The Chronic. He mostly for the next three years was featured on many soundtracks, and albums as well as Saigon remained behind the scenes as he assisted others with ghostwriting. On the soundtrack for 1992's Deep Cover, He was featured on the signature song for Jamaican reggae artist Shabba Banks,"Mr. Loverman", as well as the famous,"Deep Cover" song by Dr.Dre & Snoop Dogg in which he sang the chorus, "Cause it's 1-8-7 on the undercover cop". Later on, Saigon was featured on the Murder Was The Case soundtrack in which he was rapped on the "Natural Born Killaz" single where he was re-united on a song with Dr.Dre & Ice Cube as well as on the single "U better Recognize" with Sam Sneed & Dr.Dre. In 1995, Saigon was featured on his close friend 2Pac's diss track "Hit Em Up" in which he sent venomous disses to his Eastcoast rival Chino XL and others. During the year, T-Bone was featured on the Friday soundtrack in which released two successful singles, the marijuana-themed and multiple Grammy-Award winning "Blueberry Yum Yum" and "Coast II Coast" ft. 415. Later on in 1996, T-Bone released his first ever EP and only release on Deathrow records called "Black Sunday", which featured the Grammy-Award winning "Throwing Out The Wicked", "Hittin' Corners", re-released "Blueberry Yum Yum"", & another smash hit,"Dippin". His last involvement in music that year was being heavily featured on 2Pac's All Eyez On Me in which he was featured on the songs,"Tradin' War Stories" ft. C-Bo, Dramacydal, Storm, "Only God Can Judge Me", & "California Love" ft. Dr.Dre, Robert Troutman. This was the last time we heard Saigon on an album since he was imprisoned for attempted murder during the same night 2Pac died. 'Aftermath Entertainment'/Siccness Records" For the last 15 years since he was imprisoned, T-Bone was out of the rap game for long time and finally in 2010 when he was released, it was time for him to make his long-awaited return. Immediately, Saigon contacted his old friend and former N.W.A groupmate Dr.Dre who had him signed to his record label Aftermath Entertainment. Eminem, who cited the legendary rapper Saigon as major influence on him and who he was a big of, asked T-Bone if he could be featured on his 2010 album,Recovery" and was featured on Eminem's first single off the album,"Not Afraid", which garnished into a major platinum smash hit, and somehow Saigon's unique, high-pitched, unorthodox rapping skill still remained intact and was praised by many Eminem fans for it. Since his release from prison, Saigon was in the studio recording songs with well-known producers and rappers on his come-back solo album,"The Greatest Story Never Told", his first fully-lengthed album since 1991's "O.G: Original Gangsta", and his first single that was released was, the Grammy-Award winning "Can I Live", and eventually released five sucessful smash hits, "Fatherhood","Pain in My Life" ft. Trey Songz,"It's Cold","True Story". This album was a great comeback for Saigon as it helped get in with the new generation of music fans. After months of touring throughout promoting his comeback album and performing a number of his old school songs as well as being featured in a number of singles/songs like Dr.Dre's "Die Hard" single, Tech N9ne's "Hard Liquor", and others, Saigon decided to released his second comeback album in the same year which was entitled,"Warning Shots" and like his previous release, it features heavy production from Dr.Dre, Alex da Kidd, and Whosane? but unlike his previous release, this album was released independently on Siccness Records. The album also features the singles,"Dance With The Devil", "Frontlines" ft. Diabolic, Immortal Technique, "The Haitus", "Diary of a Madman" ft. Snak the Snipper, Brotha Lynch Hung, Ganksta N.I.P, Esham, & Lord Infamous, and "Bring The Pain". Though this album was released indepently, it managed to reach Platinum status. 'Influences' He is an major influence on Snoop Dogg. In Snoop's own words: "The reason I formed 213 with Warren G and Nate Dogg is because of T-Bone started his group 415. I was lovin' his style and voice which I incorporated into my style when I first started rapping" Other artists have gained much influence from his lyrics which include Tupac Shakur, E-40, Lupe Fiasco, Rappin' 4-Tay, Mac Mall, The Dogg Pound, Jay-Z, MC Eiht, Spice 1, Young Buck, Wiz Khalifa, Turf Talk, 50 Cent, UGK, T.I., The Pack, The Luniz, Ludacris, and among countless others Criminal History Discography * Solo * 1984: The Life of a Hoodlum * 1987: Paid in Full * 1990: O.G: Original Gangsta * 1995: Black Sunday (EP) * 2011: The Greatest Story Never Told * 2011: Liar and a Thief